A Rambling Election Post-Mortem

Election post-mortems are always more fun when your candidate wins. Mine didn’t. On the other hand, I wasn’t as much for Senator McCain as I was against Senator Obama. Notwithstanding that the media did everything but stuff the ballot box for Senator Obama, McCain ran one of the poorest political campaigns I can remember. At the end of the day, you have to be “for” something instead of “against” something. A candidate has to offer solutions, innovations, and yes…hope and change. McCain had no vision for America. That vision is particularly important this year as the nation faces some heavy duty financial issues, including the possible bankruptcy of General Motors…and there is no easy answer for that one.

The Republican Party went through the same thing when we ran Bob Dole for president. He was another true war hero who was demonized by the press, and his campaign was inept at overcoming it. McCain was Bob Dole redux, although he did have some inspiring moments that he failed to capitalize on. The “stand with me, fight with me, stand up for your country” ending to his speeches was terrific.

His selection of Sarah Palin was good and bad. She must have had something to offer as the press crucified her, and continues to do so. If she had nothing to offer, the press would have ignored her. She energized the conservative base. She will be an “up and comer” in the party, and will be a formidable opponent in 2012. On the other hand, she made McCain look even older and less inspiring than he actually was. Nobody showed up to see him. They showed up to see her.

This election also demonstrated that prejudice may be dead when it comes to skin color, but it is alive and well when it comes to age and gender. David Letterman should be ashamed of himself with his non-stop age jokes. They were mean spirited to the core. And to the credit of the press, the main stream media did a pretty fair job of spreading its gender attacks equally between Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. Sexism is alive and well in the nation’s news rooms.

So what does a right wing political junkie like me do now? Believe it or not, being a member of the loyal opposition can be great fun. I have had a few belly laughs already watching Ralph Nader call President-elect Obama an Uncle Tom, and Chris Matthews finally admit that it is his job to make sure the Obama presidency succeeds. His leg, and God knows what else, must still be tingling.

George Bush had several successes and some major failures. While his response to 9-11 was superb, his response to Katrina was a fiasco. While the war in Iraq was, and still is, right on the money in the foreign policy department, its execution was horrendous. While he was not responsible for sowing the seeds of the credit meltdown, it grew on his watch. And finally, he completely defaulted in establishing any energy policy whatsoever, which is center to all other problems facing our country today. He had a chance after 9-11 to lead the country out of the energy wilderness, and he didn’t.

While I truly hope that a President Obama will succeed in his presidency, if today’s press conference was any indication, it looks problematic. There is no doubt that he is an intelligent man, and I have no doubt that he has the best interests of the country at heart, but…rhetoric only goes so far. Any backpedaling on his issues will raise the ire of the left. It will be interesting to see how he handles Nancy Pelosi. She already one upped him by meeting with Presidents of Ford, GM, Chrysler, and the UAW. They went to see her, not him.

As for the GOP, it is time to revamp itself. The mid-term elections are off and running already, and the Republicans will be able to make up some lost ground. But to succeed, the Republicans must develop new leadership, younger leadership, more “colorful” leadership, and re-define compassionate conservatism. Its basic philosophy of individuals being responsible for their own destiny is more appealing than running to the government welfare window, corporate, individual, or otherwise, that is currently de rigueur in today’s political environment. It must define its conservative vision and redefine itself for the 21st Century. Can it be done? We did it for Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush, we can do it again. Obama only beat McCain by 1 percentage point more than Bush beat Kerry.

As for President Obama, the vagueness of today’s economic news conference reflects the reality of the situation. The possible collapse of GM, Ford, and Chrysler lays at the door of 40 years of screw-ups by corporate management, Democratic and Republican administrations, and union excess. The government will not be able to bail out everybody and everything. Fair or not, Obama will have to pick and choose who will benefit from government largesse. For every friend he makes, he will make two enemies. It will be under his presidency that the brunt of this economic downturn will occur. His political goal will be to turn it around before the next election cycle.

He can do it, but it will be at the expense of the vision he painted for America. If has the spine to do what needs to be done, he will make a believer out of me. I hope so, for his sake, and that of the nation.

Vote For Gains, Belinky and Traficanti

I only partially follow local politics. From time to time, many of my friends ask who they should vote for on the local level. So I try to recommend those folks that I either know personally, have had worked with professionally, or have first-hand knowledge of his/her job performance. This year, there are three.

For Probate Judge: Mark Belinky. Judge Belinky was appointed Probate Judge upon the resignation of Tim Maloney. Maloney’s tenure as Probate Judge was problematic, as many of you know. You can draw your own conclusions regarding the circumstances of his departure. That being said, Judge Belinky is probably the best probate judge Mahoning County has seen since I began practicing in 1975, and that includes the terms of Judge Henderson and Judge Morley. Judge Belinky has brought sanity and professionalism to the Probate Court. His reforms have made the court user friendly on all levels. He has revamped the rules so that everyone, including those citizens who have contact with the court, can get whatever the task done quickly, efficiently, fairly, and with a minimum of hassle. His open door policy and easy accessibility is refreshing and greatly appreciated by both lawyers and their clients who for the most part are in stressful situations. He has done a great job in turning a court that was in severe trouble into a successful, friendly and modern operation. He deserves to be elected to a full term on his own merit.

For Prosecutor: Paul Gains. I have known Prosecutor Gains for many years. He is an honorable and honest man, characteristics that have been lacking in that office from time to time. His is capable, responsible, hard working, and generally does a great job. There are those that may criticize him from time to time. But it is a thankless job, and one in which one would not expect to make many friends. His staff is efficient, and has done a credible job on all levels. He should be re-elected.

For County Commissioner: Anthony Traficanti. I can’t think of a more colorful individual who is representative of our area than Commissioner Traficanti. He was a student of mine when I taught Political Science at Youngstown State. He was a great student then, and he is a great guy now. I certainly don’t agree with him on all issues, and have questioned some of the decisions he has made; but of one thing I am certain. Whatever he has done or will do, it will be for what he views as the best interest of the County, whether you agree with him or not. He should be re-elected.

An Obama Presidency; What It Will Look Like

Trip on back to the 1960's to learn an old lesson again. Beware of Utopians. Whether from the right or the left, no political promise of a utopia ever works out. There is always a price in the small print. The nation will learn this lesson once again under Barack Obama. What will America look like under an Obama presidency? One only has to look at what he has said and what his party believes to get a glimpse.

Immigration: The doors will open up. Millions upon millions of Hispanics will flood into the country. Spanish will become a mandatory second language. Our signs will become bilingual as in Canada, the “example” America should be following according to the left. Schools will be required to teach in both English and Spanish. It will change forever the culture and mores of the United States.

Trade: Protectionism will raise its ugly head. Canada, our largest trading partner, is already in negotiations with the European Union to enter into a free trade zone agreement. Are they looking past the November election?

Big Government: You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Obama’s roots are in the ghetto of Chicago. There will be massive increases in welfare benefits and entitlements aimed at the poor, but really geared to increasing the amount of Americans dependent on the largesse of the government. Welfare reform will be rolled back. ADC will be expanded. Medical benefit costs will skyrocket. Universal, mandatory preschool paid for by the Feds, will be intruding into your home. While in school, your young ones will begin sex education as defined by the government early. Meals will be provided, 3 each day. The gravy will be spilling off the gravy train.

Energy: There will be no more drilling for oil. More likely than not, the drilling already occurring will be curtailed. Price controls will be imposed on gasoline with rationing, and coupons issued to those that “can’t afford gas.” Thermostats will be regulated either overtly or through excise taxes placed on predetermined amounts of energy use established by the government. The United States will enter into the Kyoto Accords, notwithstanding that the rules only apply to us and not China, Russia, India, or Brazil. While there will be some increase in alternative energy sources, for the most part, environmentalists will stymie any attempt to develop any kind of alternative energy.

Transportation: Massive amounts of money will be spent on public transportation. You will be seeing lots of empty busses riding around, and empty trains going into the station. Café requirements will be increased for cars…but look also for new taxes on cars larger than a Cobalt.

Law Enforcement: Prisons will cease punishing and begin “rehabilitation.” Look for reduction or elimination of mandatory sentences, and the establishment of early release programs to take care of the racial imbalance in the prison system.

Schools: Charter schools will be eliminated. The NEA will be exercise total control over local school systems, which will be federally regulated in order to provide “fairness” in public education. Look for a national income tax to fund the schools.

Health Care: Get your 800 number ready to dial the government for approval for your MRI. You think that the insurance companies are difficult? Just wait until Uncle Sam takes control. Ask the people in Canada and Great Britain how well it is working out for them.

Media: The left doesn’t like criticism. Obama will attempt to eliminate talk radio, control bloggers, and regulate the content of television programs if something is said that his left wing buddies don’t like. The reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine will spell the death knell for AM radio.

Farming: The EPA will be given broad ranging powers to regulate just about everything. Through implementation of ever stricter regulations for fertilizer, farm waste, rain runoff, exhaust from farm equipment, etc., the EPA will tacitly take control of the farms in a back door nationalization of the farming industry. Don’t think it will happen? Folks, they are already regulating your toilet.

Globalization: Look for Obama to cede United States sovereign authority to international organizations like the United Nations and the World Court. There are numerous “world” initiatives which will take away this nation’s right of self determination. We have outsourced jobs. Obama will outsource our freedom. By the way, remember it was Utopian Jimmy Carter who gave away the Panama Canal, which is now controlled by China.

Unions: Goodby to secret voting to determine employee unionization. When the boss says sign the union petition, you better sign it.

Taxes: Look for massive tax increases on the rich to pay for all of this. The Democrats define rich as anyone who makes over $42,000.00/year…really!! It may be an overt tax increase, but more likely than not will come in through the back door when you are not looking through such things as bracket creep and the alternative minimum tax. Look for top tax rates to once again approach 95%.

These aren’t things I have pulled out of thin air. These are positions espoused by the Democratic Party under Al Gore, John Kerry, and now Barack Obama, as well as his left wing buddies. This is what they stand for, and have said so over and over and over again. If you believe in those things, by all means, vote for Obama. As for the rest of us, if he gets elected, the midterm elections in two years can’t come soon enough.

Health Care: The Number 2 Issue

While the banking crisis is getting the lion share of media coverage, I have said numerous times that the number 1 problem facing this country is energy. It has supplanted our own monetary and fiscal regulatory agencies as the regulator of our economy. The headlines relating to the banking crisis are scary, but it will work itself out. It always does. The underlying energy problem, however, will still remain, reaping the rewards of 30 years of environmental dictatorship.

If energy is the number one problem, health care is number two, including Medicare, Medicaid, and general insurance issues for those both under and over 65. My experiences with the health care system in this country these past several years have been, in a word, awful. And it is getting worse. Here is a short list of my bad experiences with health care.

1) I cannot buy health care insurance. Although I am relatively healthy, I have had some problems over the years that preclude me from buying health care insurance. My wife carries our health insurance through her employer, and it makes it somewhat difficult for her to retire. Her retirement system currently allows me to buy it through it when she does retire, but there is no guaranty it will continue. There has been a lot of talk about cutting it out. Notwithstanding, the cost to me is almost ½ of her retirement income. It is expensive.

2) I cannot buy long term care insurance. Ever try to buy life insurance after the age of 50? Good luck. Long term care insurance is the same thing. Medicaid rules became draconian two years ago in an effort to force people to buy long term care insurance. The same issues I have relating to health care insurance also apply to long term care insurance. I have been refused by three separate companies.

3) Emergency room service is deadly. Have you tried to get emergency room service at St. Elizabeth’s Belmont lately? Be prepared to spend hours and hours and hours. When my mother had a stroke 6 years ago, I had to beg them to get her the needed blood thinning drug into her soon enough to prevent brain damage. Then, because there was no room at the inn, so to speak, they literally put her in a closet until they could find a room. She was in that closet for more than 24 hours. This place is set up as a trauma center. If you need help, get in line behind the gun shot or stab wounds. The pattern has repeated itself repeatedly when I, and other members of my family, needed emergency room care.

4) Emergency room service is deadly; Part Deux. My father suffered from prostate cancer and congestive heart failure. When he developed problems at home, his doctor said he needed a blood transfusion and told us to take him to the emergency room. They in turn, unbeknownst to me, pumped him full of fluids…the very worst thing you can do to someone with congestive heart failure. By the time my brother realized what they were doing, it was too late. They couldn’t reverse the effects and he died two days later. He only had a few months to live, and they would have been painful months…so we didn’t file any legal action. It is scary, nonetheless.

5) Elderly patients are given short shrift. My mother’s recent lengthy stay at St. Elizabeth’s was disturbing. I don’t want this to reflect on the staff of the floor she was on, as I believe it is an administrative problem more than a care problem, but her care was horrible. It isn’t that the folks weren’t nice, just not enough of them. Required assistance was non-existent as most of the staff was continually on the computer at the stations. The nurses’ aides were overworked, and seemed mostly interested in as whose patient belonged to whom. The floor my mother was on was generally senior oriented. The entire staff seemed to be dismissive as in “they are old, what difference does it make?” When it is your loved one, it makes a difference.

Throw in the outrageous cost of this questionable care, the nation is suffering a health care crisis that will continue to worsen and drain our individual pocketbooks, as well as the nation’s, in the future as the boomers reach the golden years. It must be addressed.

Time For America to Get Back to Financial Basics

Have you been watching the financial markets these past several weeks? Scary, isn’t it? I have always had an interest in watching the big boys play the game, although I have had little success trying to play the game myself. The rules are complicated. In the old days, there were stocks and bonds. Today, there are CDI’s (collateralized debt instruments) and CDS’s (Credit Default Swaps) and naked short selling and derivatives…the list goes on and on.

I have come to the conclusion that unless you were a finance major in college, you won’t have clue as to how things work. That is probably part of the problem. We expect our politicians to understand these things, when our politicians can’t figure out how to pave a road let alone run the world economy.

That being said, all of this junk paper garbage aside, I have come to the conclusion that the country has lost its way from the fundamentals that made us an economic powerhouse. Unless we find our way back, it will be long, hard road for us in the future.

How do you measure the wealth of a nation? It’s by how many refrigerators it makes, not by how many hamburgers it flips. And you know what? We don’t make a whole lot of refrigerators here anymore. I hear the continual mantra about the change from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. Horse manure!!! Service is nice, but to base an entire economy on it is to build on nothing but paper and air, because that is all that is there. It is time to revitalize our manufacturing base, so products are made in the United States by Americans, for Americans. If you make nothing, what you got is nothing.

Our banking industry has to go back to basics. Our commercial banks should only loan money to people who are credit worthy and based on realistic appraisals of real estate or legitimate pro-forma business plans. Limit the resale of the loans. Lending banks should carry their own paper. Paperwork should be made universal, and the banks could form a consortium to handle the back of the house maintenance for cost savings. But if First Place Bank makes a bad loan, First Place Bank should be responsible; not some unsuspecting bond holder.

After the Great Depression, there was a reason that commercial banking and investment banking were separated. But that was deregulated years ago, and since then there has been an amalgam of integrated banks offering total banking services. THIS IS A MISTAKE. The result of the market turmoil over the past few months is the so-called “universal” banks. In other words, Bank of America absorbed Merrill Lynch, and will use your deposits to back Merrill’s investment bank activities. Wachovia will merge with Morgan Stanley. Do you want your deposits backing some of this goofy paper these investment banks issue or deal? How stupid is that? Separate them out, and build the wall real high.

Finally, here is the most important of the bunch. Our “balance of trade” should be in balance. While people are quick to point to Wal-Mart as the villain, most of our trade imbalance comes from purchasing our energy needs overseas. It is time to dump the environmental whack jobs and begin producing energy here at home. Energy imports are the single biggest drain on our economy. T. Boone Pickens and his energy independence initiative and General Motors with its Chevy Volt are showing us the way. Do what they say and support what they do, and America will right most of its problem in within the next 5 years.

This isn’t complicated stuff, folks. This is just common sense. We should demand nothing less from our political candidates and government officials.

Obama and Community Service

Barack Obama has raised up the importance of “service”. It is a centerpiece of his campaign which is promoting the establishment of a civilian service corps. I am not sure how it works, but it plugs the idea that coming out of either high school or college, young folks should dedicate a year or two of their life to some altruistic government venture. Originally, his plan was somewhat derogatory of military service, and it appeared that he was going to cut the military budget to fund this idea. At the Columbia University Service Forum last night, he appeared to modify his view by agreeing the ROTC should be given a fair shot on campuses. Horrors!! Imagine a college campus helping the right wing military establishment.

At any rate, at least he walks the walk unlike most Dems who simply talk the talk. After huge scholarships to America’s elite of the elite schools, Columbia and Harvard, Obama went to work as a community organizer in south Chicago. I am not sure that this qualifies him to be president, but he is to be commended for wanting to give something back to the society, seriously!! The problem is that is serves as the basis for his view of life. That is his experience…elite schools followed by community service. For the most part, life ain’t that way.

His wife, Michelle, in an early speech, said that people graduating from college should eschew corporate jobs and go work for the good of society. Unfortunately, most students today coming out of college are saddled with student loans and poor job prospects. At 4 bucks a gallon for gas, one does have to make a living. What is disturbing in that approach is that it demeans people who work for corporations. 40% of all Americans pay no federal income tax. I repeat, 40% of all Americans pay no federal income tax. If that figure gets any higher, who is going to pay for the community programs that the Obama’s are pushing? There is no free lunch.

Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with service. Over the years, I have been involved in Kiwanis and Rotary Clubs, Mahoning Valley Leadership programs focusing on community issues, local theater and musical organizations. I actually sat on the board of Planned Parenthood for awhile, as well as actively raised money for Second Harvest Food Bank, not to mention numerous church projects. As a lawyer, myself as well as all lawyers, do a good amount of pro bono work just because it is the right thing to do when people are hurting.

I believe that most Americans, particularly those of us who are children of the 1960’s, intuitively help out anywhere we can. It isn’t just me, it is many of the people I know personally who volunteer both their time and treasure. I find it ironic that it is the red states that lead the list in charitable donations, and it is a Democrat who wants to institutionalize community service when blue states are at the bottom of the list in charitable donations.

Senator Obama should be commended for his efforts and pointing out the importance of community service. His work should not be belittled just as Governor Palin’s service as a small town mayor should not be belittled. Both are necessary and important to our nation. But Senator Obama, and especially Michelle Obama calling American cold and callous, should not be so quick to demean the huge amount of good work that goes unnoticed and unrewarded except for personal satisfaction.

Community Service is alive and healthy in the United States. It doesn’t need to be institutionalized.

Picture Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons: [lee]: Some Rights Reserved

Old Age: America's Last Bastion of Discrimination

For a country that prides itself on being politically correct and cognizant of other people’s feelings, America sure is selective as to who benefits from its largesse. I have always been cognizant of age as an issue. In the 1968 glory days, the cry was not to trust anyone over the age of 30. When I reached 30, I pushed the limit to 40. When I reached 40, I figured I crossed the Rubicon and shouldn’t trust myself. But this year, it has ceased being funny. As I approach the ripe old age of 59, I am becoming more and more convinced that age is America’s last bastion of acceptable discrimination.

Several things have raised my “we are going to get screwed” antenna. Ohio State popped up first on my radar. The alumni association, besides reneging on its promise of ticket availability to us long time purchasers, announced that the preferred way to purchase football tickets from now on will be on-line. Tickets will no longer be available by mail. If you can’t use a computer, and the vast majority of people over the age of 65 cannot use a computer, you don’t get tickets. I don’t know for sure whether ticket purchasers will be required to receive all notices of upcoming ticket availability by email, or if a mailing will be sent out, but it is not right. Even those who are computer savvy may be hesitant to purchase anything on-line. Perhaps there will be telephone sales, but I doubt it. This is the stuff lawsuits are made of.

John McCain’s bid for the presidency this year has been the subject of continual “old people” jokes. If any of the late night talk show hosts made the same type comments about minorities or blacks, they would be yanked off the air. Think “nappy headed ho”. The old age jokes are continuous and becoming vicious. Do you think you would ever hear David Letterman say that if Obama is elected we should all learn to eat watermelon? It is unacceptable and wrong. Certainly age is a consideration for McCain just as race is a consideration for Obama. But enough is enough.

On a more personal level, I am dealing with my elderly mother and attendant illnesses that would normally accompany an 89 year old. Recently, she has been diagnosed with a serious illness. While in the hospital, the treatment she received was bad, really bad. It was clear that they considered her old, and her needs and those of her elderly roommate where simply ignored by the staff in the worst possible way. I also experienced the same thing with my father who died at the age of 84. His life then and my mother’s now were considered to be throw-away, including some unbelievable comments made right on the chart about how my father should be treated.

More disturbing is my mother’s diagnosis, or should I say diagnoses, as we have learned that she has more than one issue which all of her doctors neglected to discuss with us. Here is the problem. All of her illnesses are treatable, but the doctors have made it clear they are not interested. She has one issue which would normally be considered terminal, but was caught so early that a simple out-patient procedure would not only extend her life by several years, but possibly cure her. But they will not perform it unless we give permission for a more aggressive procedure, which because of her age, she would probably not survive. Folks, the two procedures are unrelated.

Roadblocks have been continually thrown in our way as we make inquiries as to available treatment. She has some breathing issues which no one bothered to explain, even though I have been asking about the problem for over a year. Finally, we looked at her chart and saw the diagnosis. It is treatable. Will it cure her? No, but it certainly would greatly improve the quality of her life. These aren’t heroic measures, folks, but minimum standards of care which would be dispensed to someone 20 years younger without a blink of an eye. Instead, the medical personnel want to discuss feeding tubes and comfort care and hospice, which by any measure are premature. If she receives minimum, proper care now, she may need those things in a year or two or three. If she doesn’t, she might need them in 3 or 4 months.

My father, who was a doctor himself, once told me about walking into a scrub room prior to surgery and bumping into a very upset heart surgeon who had just lost a patient on the table. My father personally knew the deceased and his age, 88. When he asked the surgeon why he was so upset as the patient was old and lived a good life, the surgeon replied, “He may have been 88, but he wanted to live to be 89.”

I thought about that story when I watched the horrible treatment my father received, and now again when I watch the same thing happening to my mother. We baby boomers, and that includes me, are the largest and wealthiest segment in our society. We didn’t stand for discrimination when we were marching the picket lines while we were in college, and we shouldn’t stand for it now. I am truly afraid that it will happen to me. You should be afraid that it will happen to you.